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Challenging China: Smart Strategies for Dealing with China in the Xi Jinping Era
Expertly researched and thought-out, yet approachable and witty, this book will immediately draw in anyone interested in global affairs, foreign policy and the future of America's role on the world stage.
This book provides a fascinating insider's look at how China is changing rapidly today, how these changes pose grave risks to the rest of the world, and how the U.S. and its allies can best address these challenges. Trade wars and U.S. presidents may come and go, but the fundamental dynamics of the U.S.-China relationship will remain in place for years to come.
Challenging China is a popular current events explanation of how China has become more authoritarian and expansionist and what strategies the U.S. and its allies need to adopt to address this new China. Although delving into serious issues, Challenging China is written in an engaging way and probably the only book on China that references Dolly Parton, LeBron James and Bruce Springsteen.
Topics addressed
The story of China's rise is a remarkable tale of economic success, but that alone has not and will not lead to political liberalization. This book shows how actively engaging China, while protecting our own interests, can in fact work to promote its liberalization. This includes a wide array of strategies including trade alliances with other countries, cooperating with China on climate change, protecting Taiwan and using human rights as a foreign policy tool.
Author Sam Kaplan has worked on China policy and trade for over thirty years. Drawing upon his extensive experience, contacts and research, he proposes new ways of dealing with China in a smarter, more realistic way. There is reason to be optimistic that China can and will change if we apply the right strategies and have the will to implement them.
This book provides a fascinating insider's look at how China is changing rapidly today, how these changes pose grave risks to the rest of the world, and how the U.S. and its allies can best address these challenges. Trade wars and U.S. presidents may come and go, but the fundamental dynamics of the U.S.-China relationship will remain in place for years to come.
Challenging China is a popular current events explanation of how China has become more authoritarian and expansionist and what strategies the U.S. and its allies need to adopt to address this new China. Although delving into serious issues, Challenging China is written in an engaging way and probably the only book on China that references Dolly Parton, LeBron James and Bruce Springsteen.
Topics addressed
The story of China's rise is a remarkable tale of economic success, but that alone has not and will not lead to political liberalization. This book shows how actively engaging China, while protecting our own interests, can in fact work to promote its liberalization. This includes a wide array of strategies including trade alliances with other countries, cooperating with China on climate change, protecting Taiwan and using human rights as a foreign policy tool.
Author Sam Kaplan has worked on China policy and trade for over thirty years. Drawing upon his extensive experience, contacts and research, he proposes new ways of dealing with China in a smarter, more realistic way. There is reason to be optimistic that China can and will change if we apply the right strategies and have the will to implement them.
- GenresChinaNonfictionPolitics
226 pages, Hardcover
Published April 20, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 20, 2021
Throughout his book, the author kept on calling for China’s liberalisation that one could be forgiven for thinking that China today is still stuck in the Cultural Revolution era where everyone is still dressed in the same dour grey coat uniform. For anyone who has travelled in recent times to China, this could not have been further from the truth. As mentioned even by the author himself, China has successfully lifted 850 million of her people from extreme poverty since 1979. For a nation that has been characterised by chaotic dynastic transitions over the past 4,000 odd years, China is currently enjoying arguably the most prosperous and stable time (at least) in her recent history. And yet, the author is asking for China to abandon all these so that she can be liberalised? It is also so convenient for the author to argue that the call to democratise is for the benefits of the people in China and that CCP is the real enemy, not the the Chinese people. The liberalisation of Iraq didn’t go very well, did it?
The last time China was minding her own business some 150 years ago, the West pushed to her shores, forced wars upon her, fed her people with opium, burned down the Summer Palace and forcefully asked for cities and ports to be ceded to them. And yet the author is speaking about fair trade practices today. It is also very convenient for the author to just claim that China is the biggest emitter of CO2 since 2006, but what about the carbon that were emitted to the atmosphere from the time of Industrial Revolution?
China will have her own issues just as all the other countries will as well. It is just so unhelpful for the author to keep claiming that the US-led way is the only way forward. In Chapter 6 - “Again, it is natural for a new global power to want to have more influence on the world’s organisations. This would be fine if China were a liberal democracy. But it is not.” This is akin to saying “yes, you can do anything you want, but just make sure it is my way, because my way is the only way”.
The last time China was minding her own business some 150 years ago, the West pushed to her shores, forced wars upon her, fed her people with opium, burned down the Summer Palace and forcefully asked for cities and ports to be ceded to them. And yet the author is speaking about fair trade practices today. It is also very convenient for the author to just claim that China is the biggest emitter of CO2 since 2006, but what about the carbon that were emitted to the atmosphere from the time of Industrial Revolution?
China will have her own issues just as all the other countries will as well. It is just so unhelpful for the author to keep claiming that the US-led way is the only way forward. In Chapter 6 - “Again, it is natural for a new global power to want to have more influence on the world’s organisations. This would be fine if China were a liberal democracy. But it is not.” This is akin to saying “yes, you can do anything you want, but just make sure it is my way, because my way is the only way”.
April 12, 2022
This was a great book on China, with particular focus on trade relationships, foreign policy, and details on things like their own internal strategies.
I found it fairly interesting.
Would recommend if interested in China politics.
4.3/5
I found it fairly interesting.
Would recommend if interested in China politics.
4.3/5
July 5, 2022
This is a great book. Kaplan gives us his thought on US and China relations by his perspectives and experiences. His experiences explained another insight about China and US behaviors. A nice book to understand US-China relations from time to time.
Read
January 9, 2023Insightful, interesting, challenging to some of my thinking. Pretty even handed in the approach
August 19, 2021
Built on western free world's point of view, the author has revealed in the first six chapters the negative behaviours of China based on his experience and research which were recapped in Chapter 7 as being authoritarian, repressive, censoring free speech, human right abuses, closed economic market etc. At the end, the author proposed how to deal with China, from a US perspective, in certain problematic areas ... including human rights, lack of rule of law trading, closed market, Taiwan, and espionage. It is also these proposed methods by the author that I refute and how my rating derived.
There are many books written on China in recent years, mostly by US authors, pointing out the wrongdoings with various recommendations to correct or counter China's way of acting both internally and externally. So far, I do not believe those will work ... the gap of understanding each other is still there because the two world's largest countries each have their own ideology, political principle, ethnical culture and values.
Basic concepts in western culture like human rights are interpreted differently in China as not universal but dispensable for the good of the country, which is generally acceptable by people in China (except the victims) ... individual sacrifice is unavoidable. Legitimacy of the government of China (basically the CCP) is also different from those under democracy governments, which is the reason for tight censorship (including external information from the free world) in order that CCP directives will not be questioned ... also acceptable by people in China as justified by the good outcomes ... like improvements in infrastructure, education, economy, living standard etc, from its authoritarian government. Bear in mind that these Chinese characteristics have been treated as the success factors for China to advance in the last two decades. As for the ethnical culture change compared to 50 years ago, a lot of work has been done by CCP to brainwash the people (including minority ethnic groups) ... via education, internal propaganda for nationalism, strict control on anti-government ideas & remarks. As for subsidized trading and market access issues, it is just the kind of terms China can play to get the best deal for the country, which any other country can use in a competitive business world to play smart if the rule-of-law is not tight enough.
The US and other western countries should note that they have their faults to blame ... the liberalism and capitalism society they value has nurtured uncontrollable greed in organizations, corporations and individuals who will trade their country's security and interest for their own benefits. Hence, so-called forced technology transfer, commercial spying etc are just consequences of such mentality.
There are many books written on China in recent years, mostly by US authors, pointing out the wrongdoings with various recommendations to correct or counter China's way of acting both internally and externally. So far, I do not believe those will work ... the gap of understanding each other is still there because the two world's largest countries each have their own ideology, political principle, ethnical culture and values.
Basic concepts in western culture like human rights are interpreted differently in China as not universal but dispensable for the good of the country, which is generally acceptable by people in China (except the victims) ... individual sacrifice is unavoidable. Legitimacy of the government of China (basically the CCP) is also different from those under democracy governments, which is the reason for tight censorship (including external information from the free world) in order that CCP directives will not be questioned ... also acceptable by people in China as justified by the good outcomes ... like improvements in infrastructure, education, economy, living standard etc, from its authoritarian government. Bear in mind that these Chinese characteristics have been treated as the success factors for China to advance in the last two decades. As for the ethnical culture change compared to 50 years ago, a lot of work has been done by CCP to brainwash the people (including minority ethnic groups) ... via education, internal propaganda for nationalism, strict control on anti-government ideas & remarks. As for subsidized trading and market access issues, it is just the kind of terms China can play to get the best deal for the country, which any other country can use in a competitive business world to play smart if the rule-of-law is not tight enough.
The US and other western countries should note that they have their faults to blame ... the liberalism and capitalism society they value has nurtured uncontrollable greed in organizations, corporations and individuals who will trade their country's security and interest for their own benefits. Hence, so-called forced technology transfer, commercial spying etc are just consequences of such mentality.
May 23, 2025
China apologist for the majority of the book. Advocated the same mistake made by the US under Nixon. China will never liberalize and is only concerned about survival of the CCP. A few decent ideas about countering China, but the entire premise of China is not working all avenues to surpass the US, and will do anything to achieve that goal, is misguided.
Much better book if you know it is more geared towards China perspective than the US.
Much better book if you know it is more geared towards China perspective than the US.
November 19, 2025
I took 3 years to finish this book. Stopped right at chapter 7 and 8.
Turns out chapter 7 and 8 were really the only ones I needed to read.
Turns out chapter 7 and 8 were really the only ones I needed to read.
April 19, 2023
Too much Trump bashing, not enough China info.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews